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Sunday, March 24, 3 PM
Blue Heron
Pre-Concert Talk, 2 PM
Speaker: Dr. Teresa Neff
DETAILS:
Directed by Scott Metcalfe, Blue Heron—Boston’s top early-music vocal ensemble—presents Divine Songs, connections and exchanges between secular song and sacred music, featuring the music of Johannes Ockeghem (c.1425-1497).
Blue Heron
Pamela Dellal, Paul Guttry, David McFerrin, Owen McIntosh, Jason McStoots, Martin Near, Mark Sprinkle, Sumner Thompson, voices
Laura Jeppesen, rebec & medieval fiddle
Scott Metcalfe, director, harp & medieval fiddle
Johannes Ockeghem, one of the greatest composers of all time, is completely unknown to many listeners today. His endlessly fascinating sacred music has been characterized as mystical; his songs, each one a gem of invention, can be funny, heart wrenching, or profound.
The program includes Ockeghem’s songs Ma maistresse, Fors seullement, and Presque transi; De plus en plus by Gilles Binchois; and movements from the masses by Ockeghem based on those songs.
“The music of this Franco-Flemish master unspools in a dazzling maze of crisscrossing lines, magnificent in their complexity and austere beauty. Follow the patterns closely and they are mind-bending; soften the focus of your concentration and this spacious music washes over you, as entrancing as a majestic cathedral.… Under the artistic leadership of Scott Metcalfe, the performances were handsomely polished and beautifully delivered, with keen attention paid to the clarity of interplay among voices.”
